Roman Zozulya claims ‘They call me a Nazi, a fascist, a communist…’

Albacete striker Roman Zozulya has responded to criticism and questions over his political affiliations: “people don’t make any sense.”

The second half of the abandoned match between Rayo Vallecano – Zozulya’s former club – and Albacete will be played behind closed doors, La Liga confirmed, after it became the first match in Spanish football to be postponed due to chants from the stands, directed towards the striker.

The match was called off at half-time earlier this month due to insults directed from the home fans at Vallecas towards the Ukrainian, which were alleging that the player held extreme right-wing political views.

This was an incident that garnered major controversy in Spain as no game had ever been suspended due to racist chanting, homophobia or xenophobia previously.

“When it all started I was a fascist,” Zozulya told reporters, as cited by Union Rayo and Marca.

“Then they started checking my Facebook and I became a Nazi. Recently they called me racist and today I didn’t listen but they told me that they yelled at me ‘communist’ – people don’t make any sense.

“It would not surprise me what they called me next.”

Rayo were also fined €18k for the incident and faced a partial stadium closure for two matches in the Segunda.

Zozulya signed for the Madrid-based club on loan from Real Betis in January 2017 but never made a first-team appearance due to fans uncovering evidence of his political views.

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La Liga - Club News